


Tonight, the star is me

by jaeyongficfest, oiiwaforlife



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Getting Together, Implied background relationships, M/M, Produce 101 AU, Strangers to Lovers, very loosely implied Johnten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:14:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26924185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaeyongficfest/pseuds/jaeyongficfest, https://archiveofourown.org/users/oiiwaforlife/pseuds/oiiwaforlife
Summary: Produce 101 AU where in between long hours of practice and doing cringey ageyo for votes, Taeyong manages to find love.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 10
Kudos: 171





	Tonight, the star is me

**Author's Note:**

> Before you read, here's a short disclaimer:
> 
> Just because someone got a low rank, wasn't in the debut line-up or was eliminated/was pictured as lacking in certain areas, it does NOT mean that is how I see them or how they are in real life. This is an AU and in no way represents reality.
> 
> Speaking of the final line-up, it was so hard to choose who to "debut" between all 23 members. All of them are so talented and I love them so much I couldn't choose based on my preferences. I ended up going with what I saw fit my fic best. This is a Jaeyong centric fic before anything else.
> 
> Please keep in mind that this is an AU. Produce 99 is heavily inspired by produce 101 (Korea and China) and other survival shows. Obviously I took a lot of liberty with it for the sake of the fic and the trainees get away with a lot of things that would've never been okay and acceptable in a survival show. In case anyone is unfamiliar with how the show works, the knowledge is not necessary to enjoy the fic, I glossed over the logistics as to not bore readers but I tried to make it understandable to anyone unfamiliar with the produce series. 
> 
> With that being said, I hope you guys enjoy. 
> 
> I would love to thank the prompter for this amazing prompt (I'm so sorry this ended up not being rated mature as you asked but I hope you will like it nonetheless)  
> Special thanks to my friends for being my beta readers!

After taking a deep breath Taeyong stepped into the room with confidence he wasn't feeling. Ten's presence was more reassuring than he thought it would ever be. Even though he'd seen every episode of the first season of Produce 99, Taeyong was still taken back by how huge the room was.

It was unnerving to have so many eyes on them. He strongly envied whoever arrived first and was spared this awful experience. Taeyong resisted the urge to squirm and focused on keeping his poker face in place. He knew how important and lasting first impressions were and he refused to appear nervous and scared.

Once they arrived at the foot of the pyramid, they greeted the trainees who awkwardly stood up and bowed back. Taeyong looked to his right and met Ten's eyes. They didn't give much thought to where they should sit, they were too preoccupied with their training.

"Look, seat number ten is empty," Ten whispered as if the mic wouldn't pick up what he said.

"Yeah sure, let's go."

Ten excitedly grabbed his hand and half dragged him up the stairs. Taeyong inwardly sighed in relief when he realized the entire row was still empty. He settled into seat number 11 and bowed politely when the person sitting in front of him turned around to greet them. 

He surveyed the room and let everything soak in.

He made it. He was one of the 99 trainees selected for the show and he was currently waiting for the first evaluation to take place. It felt surreal. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that he was being filmed and would appear on tv. He closed his eyes and stopped himself from thinking too much about it, he didn't need more reasons to feel nervous.

Thankfully, the next trainees came in, easily distracting him from his thoughts. Willing his body to relax and ignore the numerous cameras surrounding them, Taeyong focused on the little comments Ten kept making whenever a new group made their entrance.

At some point, Taeyong started zoning out. He probably should be paying attention to his competition but they all started to blend together after a while.

"Taeyong, I think he's looking our way," Ten pocked Taeyong's shoulder.

Taeyong looked up skeptically, thinking Ten must've seen wrong. He wasn't expecting to see a familiar face waving enthusiastically at him.

“Johnny?" Taeyong blinked in surprise.

“Taeyong!" Johnny grinned, stopping in front of him, unbothered by the several eyes settled on them. Taeyong didn't understand their curiosity, it wasn't uncommon for trainees to know each other.

“You didn't tell me you were coming on this show!" Taeyong gave his friend an accusatory look and Johnny smiled sheepishly.

“I wasn't sure I would pass the preliminaries and we were supposed to keep it a secret."

Oh, that was true. Taeyong forgot about keeping the whole thing a secret. He had no time to even consider talking to anyone aside from Ten.

“Did you come alone?" Taeyong peeked behind Johnny expecting to see no one. Johnny's company was, after all, known for having actors and not many idol trainees. 

“Yeah, what about you?" He glanced at Ten who was already looking at him curiously.

"ah right! Johnny, this is Ten. Ten this is Johnny, my friend from high school." Taeyong leaned into his seat to allow his friends to get a better look at each other. 

"Pleasure to meet you." Ten gave Johnny a subtle once over and Taeyong resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 

"The pleasure is all mine." Johnny smiled brightly, eyes lingering for longer than socially acceptable. 

Taeyong prayed to the heavens that the cameras didn't catch that interaction. He didn't want rumors to spread on their first day at the show. He glanced at the front of the room where two new trainees arrived. 

Ten and Johnny continued to whisper, pretending Taeyong wasn't sitting right there between the two of them, paying half attention to the conversation. Their occasional chatter did ease his nerves a bit but he was still getting more bored as the minutes ticked by.

He cracked his neck, wondering when the audition will start. They've been sitting there for quite a while. He tried so hard to stifle a yawn and blinked the sleepiness away. 

"Isn't that a big company?" Ten nudged his elbow to get his attention.

Taeyong looked up to the screen displaying company names and his eyes widened slightly. Ten was right, the name was one of the biggest entertainment companies in the country. No one expected a company as big as Punch entertainment to send trainees to produce 99. Understandably, everyone's attention shifted to the entrance, curious as to who they sent.

"Yeah, you're right." He exchanged a look with Ten.

Even though his eyes were trained on the entrance like everyone else, Taeyong felt a pang of sympathy for whoever was coming in. It must be nerve-wracking to have so many people's attention on them. But they might as well get used to it, it was part of their dream job after all.

A boy around Ten's age entered. He held his head high despite his body language clearly showing how nervous he was.

"Isn't that Jung Jaehyun??" The boy sitting in front Taeyang whispered to his friend.

"You know him?" Someone sitting beside the pair turned curiously. Taeyong felt Ten perk up beside him.

"Yeah, he appeared in a few MVs by seniors in his company. We go to the same school." The boy replied with a small smile.

Taeyong's eyes shifted back to Jaehyun who was making his way to one of the few seats left at the bottom of the pyramid.

"He does look familiar," Johnny squinted, probably trying to get a good look at the new arrival. 

Taeyong hummed in interest. He didn't know the guy but he was intrigued. He wanted to see who this big company would send. He had to be a big deal. 

"I am looking forward to his performance!" Ten looked around the room excitedly. "I can't wait to see what everyone prepared."

"We're not here as spectators." Taeyong rolled his eyes good-heartedly.

"I'm still going to enjoy the show." Ten leaned back in his seat and stretched his legs. "Do you think we'll wait longer? My legs are killing me."

"Most seats are already filled up," Johnny rolled his shoulders. and wished he could stretch his legs too. 

"I'm guessing we're starting soon." Taeyong subtly counted five empty seats.

Ten Grunted in reply and yawned, they'd been sitting for a long time after all. The screen display changed, prompting Taeyong to peel his eyes off his best friend who was stretching like a cat in his seat.

Five Individual trainees came in and scattered around the room searching for empty seats. Taeyong eyed the screen, waiting for any kind of announcement. Now that all trainees arrived, the audition could finally begin.

Taeyong's nerves picked up once the names of their mentors appeared on the big screen. Everyone around him seemed to share the sentiment. They had to perform and be judged by one of the best people in the entertainment industry. Anyone who wasn't nervous before was most certainly shaking by now.

"We're starting from the top of the pyramid! Seats from one until fifteen, please come down to perform." BoA, the national producers' representative, announced and Taeyong felt slightly relieved.

"Sweet! We can get it over with and enjoy the rest of the performances!" Ten turned to him with a broad smile and practically vibrating with excitement.

"Let's go, we need to stretch well." Taeyong shook his legs and followed the trainees down the stairs into the waiting area.

Once in the waiting room, they wished Johnny good luck and promised to cheer him on. Taeyong was slightly bummed that he'd have to watch his friend through the screen backstage but it was better than nothing. 

He thoroughly stretched while mentally going through the choreography and his lyrics. He watched the first four groups absentmindedly, too nervous to pay attention, unlike Ten whose eyes were glued to the screens, enjoying the show as if he was sitting at home watching tv.

"SM entertainment, you two are next." A staff member eventually came in and escorted them to the stage.

Taeyong squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and held his head high. He walked to the center of the stage and stood beside Ten.

"Hello, we are TXT from SM entertainment!" They both bowed to the judges and Taeyong internally cried in relief at their synchronized greeting. They practiced that one line way too many times and he would've screamed if they messed it up.

"You may begin your performance." BoA smiled in a reassuring way, which only made the two boys more nervous.

Ten and Taeyong exchanged a look and slightly nodded. They got this. They practiced hard for this moment. They had no reason to mess it up.

Taeyong shifted lightly, getting in position, and closed his eyes. as the first note started playing, his face changed, displaying confidence and arrogance. Everything else blurred into the back of his mind, he could only hear the music.

Panting slightly, Taeyong bowed to the judges once the performance was over. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his friend do the same. He was suddenly aware of how noisy the room got and he resisted the urge to fidget.

"Thank you," They both said, almost out of breath.

Taeyong made sure to look up confidently. He avoided eye contact with any of the judges but didn’t look at the floor. He swallowed hard when BoA reached for her mic. 

"It says here that you wrote the song and choreographed it?" 

Ten nodded and looked at Taeyong expectantly. 

"Yes, I produced the song and we worked on the lyrics and choreography together." He clutched his mic tightly.

"Ten," Hyoyeon, the dance mentor, looked at the papers in front of her before focusing on the boys.

"yes?"

"What's your specialty?" 

"Dance." Ten managed to answer steadily with a smile.

"If there's anything you've prepared, could you show us?"

"What about the song...?" Ten looked at her nervously.

"Just turn on anything." She crossed her hands in front of her chest and smirked. 

Taeyong grabbed Ten’s mic and gave him an encouraging thumbs-up. A random trap song that Taeyong vaguely recognized started playing and he watched in amazement as Ten's face instantly morphed from his nervous smile to his charismatic stage persona. 

Taeyong hadn't noticed how loud the other trainees were when he was performing but now he could hear them loud and clear. He curiously turned his focus to the judges, who were just as captivated with Ten. 

As soon as the music faded, a wide satisfied smile spread on Hyoyeon's face, and Taeyong felt immensely proud.

Still panting, Ten bowed and thanked the judges before turning to Taeyong with his hand extended. 

"Lee Taeyong." 

"Yes??" Taeyong looked up, startled. and almost dropped the mic he was handing back to Ten.

"That rap you showed us was impressive. If you have anything else you want to show us this is your chance." Cheetah, their rap mentor, raised her eyebrow expectantly.

Taeyong expected them to ask him to freestyle at some point. Of course, he had a lot of things prepared just in case but he was genuinely surprised when they asked him to rap instead of dancing. He hoped that he’d have more opportunities to show off both skills in the future. 

He nodded and took a deep breath, relaxing his muscles. Ten sent him a small smile and stepped aside to give him room. 

Ten resisted the urge to smirk once he heard the familiar lyrics. He glanced at the judges, noting the pleased smiles and widened eyes. He couldn't blame them, Taeyong tended to have that effect on people.

As soon as Taeyong put his mic down, Ten was all over him giving him a tight hug. Although he was surprised, Taeyong instantly hugged back and was released after two pats on the back. 

BoA put her mic down with a nod and turned to the other judges as they started discussing their decision. 

Ten glanced at Taeyong, as if sensing his nerves and gave him an encouraging smile and Taeyong gave him a small one back. 

"We'll announce SM entertainment individual grades" Hyoyeon suddenly broke the silence. 

"Lee Taeyong," 

Taeyong straightened up. He resisted the urge to bite his lip and settled on biting the inside of his mouth. 

Even though their CEO had told them time and time again that he was only sending them on the show for some promotions and visibility before their debut, Taeyong didn’t like doing things halfway. He was given an opportunity and he wanted to make the best out of it. 

He wanted to be one of the final nine that would get to debut. And his first step towards that goal would be getting into the A class. 

"A!"

"Thank you," Taeyong bowed. He closed his eyes and internally sighed in relief, shoulders visibly relaxing.

"Ten," 

Taeyong looked at his friend from the corner of his eye and saw him shuffling from foot to foot nervously. 

"A!" 

Whispers started rising among the trainees. SM Entertainment was the first group that got an A. And both trainees from the same company managed to get the same grade. It was a performance that everyone would remember.

ღ

  
  
  


Taeyong looked sadly at the pile of snacks he handed to the staff. He knew they weren't allowed to bring in food but he had hoped he'd have some time to hide them before they come and inspect their luggage. 

The camera crew came in as soon as he entered the room though, a staff member and one of their mentors in tow. The boys were forced to open their suitcases in front of them and every snack they spotted was immediately confiscated. 

Once he was sure the cameramen left the room, Taeyong let out a small sigh. He glanced subtly at the cameras above his bed. They were told that the cameras would turn off during the night and that they were to take off their mics in their room and during meals. 

Taeyong was glad for the privacy. He was glad to at least have a few hours a day to himself. He would probably go insane if he was filmed 24/7 for a few months, if he stayed on the show until the end that is.

The rules plastered on their dorm room made him gasp at first. Most of them were reasonable and what you would expect from a training camp: no showing up late to practice, keeping up a daily journal, not being late to meals, etc. The sheer amount of them is what surprised him.

 _It could've been worse_ , he looked dejectedly at his snack-less suitcase.

"I still have some snacks they didn't spot." 

Taeyong whipped his head around so fast he almost got whiplash. He stared incredulously at Nakamoto Yuta, his roommate, and bunk bed mate. Despite arriving before Taeyong, Yuta offered to take the upper bed once he saw Taeyong sadly eyeing the already taken lower beds. 

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," Yuta smiled apologetically.

"It's fine. You were saying?" 

Yuta smiled mischievously and opened a secret compartment in his suitcase stuffed with random snacks. He put a finger to his lips and his smile widened impossibly more. 

"I like you so I'll share it with you." 

"You just want someone to take the blame with you when you eventually get caught don't you?" Taeyong raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"How dare you doubt my noble and pure intentions." Yuta scrunched his nose in mock hurt and resumed his unpacking. 

"Then I'll be in your care. Thanks for your offer." Taeyong smiled slightly. 

"You’re welcome!” Yuta grinned back.

“He smiled!!!” Someone gasped.

Taeyong looked to his right where his two other roommates were helping each other unpack. The two were from the same company and aside from greeting Taeyong when he came in, they’ve kept to themselves.

“Ah! I didn’t see it.” the one wearing glasses whispered but everyone was able to hear him in the quiet room. Realizing that Taeyong was looking at them, he nudged his friend with his elbow and flushed in embarrassment. 

The one who spoke first scratched his cheek sheepishly. Taeyong glanced at their name tags. They were both from Dream entertainment. He did remember their performance as it was pretty remarkable. They were all young, if memory served him right, their oldest member was 16.

Despite their young age, they were one of the best groups that performed on the show in terms of coordination and synchronization. 

“Sorry. It’s just I was surprised by your smile.” Jaemin smiled widely despite his visible embarrassment. “You look less scary when you smile.”

“Jaemin!!!” Jeno nudged his friend with his elbow. “I’m sorry about him, he doesn’t have a filter.” 

“It’s fine.” Taeyong chuckled. The two of them were too adorable. “Thanks, I will try to smile more often.”

“Oh no, don’t do it _too_ often.” Yuta sniffled, “You’ll make everyone fall for you and the national producers won’t even look our way.” 

Taeyong flushed slightly at the compliment. All he did was smile _slightly_.

“Oh come on.” He huffed and shoved Yuta lightly. 

“I was telling the truth though,” Yuta made a show of rubbing his arm as if the shove hurt. 

“Is that a dog plushie?” Jeno covered his mouth once he realized he spoke out loud. 

“Who’s the one without a filter??” Jaemin gave his friend a smug smile.

Taeyong glanced at his open suitcase where a small dog plushie was visible. He bent down and carefully picked it up.

“Yeah, it was a gift from my sister so I figured it’d bring me luck. Since I can’t bring my real dog with me.” 

“It’s really cute.” Yuta leaned in to take a closer look.

“It is!” Taeyong looked fondly at the plushie before gently putting it on his bed. “My dog is cuter though.” 

“You’ll have to show us pictures when we’re allowed to use our phones.” Jaemin gave him a hopeful look that made him nod instantly. He was too weak for cute beings. 

“I already miss having my phone on me.” Jeno sighed. 

“At least we’re allowed to have them after the re-evaluation.” Taeyong patted the kid’s head in comfort. The pair reminded him of small energetic puppies. 

At first, he was scared of living with strangers. He had hoped he’d be in the same room as Ten since they were in the same class but they were unfortunately in different dorm rooms. 

After meeting his roommates, he wasn’t as nervous as before. They seemed like good people. At least now he knew someone aside from Ten in his class. He wouldn’t awkwardly hover in the background and get ignored by everyone.

  
  


Ღ

Taeyong wasn’t exactly jealous. The right word to describe his feelings would be disappointed. 

Mark was a good kid and he deserved to be the center for the theme song. Obviously, Taeyong wanted to get that position too, everyone in the show wanted to get the visibility being the center provided. Taeyong wasn’t dumb, he was aware that visibility and screentime played a huge role in a show where the general public voted for their favorites. No one was going to vote for a person they never even got a glimpse of. 

This time, it was the trainees who voted among themselves though. And Taeyong tried not to feel too disappointed about it. He still had the privilege of dancing in the front row with the rest of the A class. 

Truth to be told, Taeyong kind of expected Jung Jaehyun to get the spot. The guy was popular even among the trainees. He was always surrounded by people. Jaehyun was never alone, not even during meals. Everyone seemed to love him just for existing. 

No, Taeyong was not bitter. Maybe just a little jealous. He just couldn’t comprehend what was so special about Jaehyun. His audition was not the greatest, certainly not what Taeyong expected from one of the biggest companies. It was almost disappointing. And judging by the faces Taeyong saw after the performance, he concluded that many trainees agreed with him. 

He couldn’t understand how they managed to change their mind and befriend him so quickly. It has only been a few days since they met each other. 

To be fair, Taeyong knew that the terrible first performance didn’t reflect Jaehyun’s true talent. Taeyong wasn’t blind. He saw how quickly Jaehyun learned the theme song. He was right there when the teachers praised him every opportunity they got. 

Taeyong tried to not be judgemental but he couldn’t help the disdain he seemed to associate with Jung Jaehyun. There was no way someone that perfect existed without having a terrible personality.

With that thought in mind, Taeyong entered his room, his two friends in tow. His shoulders sagged in relief to find the beds empty. He liked his roommates but he was drained from spending the whole morning with other people and wanted some time out without their energetic and loud voices.

“I can’t believe we’ll be performing at Mcountdown!” Johnny dramatically laid on Taeyong’s bed. 

“They said we’ll get to perform twice.” Ten pushed Johnny aside to sit beside him on the tiny bed. 

“We need to finish filming the music video first though.” Taeyong huffed at his already full bed and settled on the floor. 

“I’m excited and nervous at the same time.” Johnny frowned. It sounded scary to film a music video with all 99 trainees. There was so much pressure to not make any mistakes.

“It’ll be fine! You practiced so hard you managed to get into A class!” Ten patted him on the back encouragingly and Taeyong nodded.

“We have the rest of today and the whole day off tomorrow. We can practice more.” Ten offered when Johnny still looked unconvinced. 

“Thank you, guys. I would’ve never done it without you two.” Johnny ran a hand through his hair tiredly.

They all barely slept the past few days, staying up until ungodly hours. Despite being in different classes, all three decided to get together after dinner to practice more. 

“Oh please, don’t mention it. It was fun spending time with you.” Ten teasingly bumped their shoulders together. His grin widened when Johnny flushed a light pink shade. 

Taeyong resisted the urge to scoff. Ten didn’t even bother checking if the camera would pick up their faces from that angle. 

“Are you two done with your interviews?” Taeyong coughed awkwardly to break the staring contest his two friends were having. 

“Not yet.” Ten’s eyebrows scrunched at the reminder. “Now that you mention it, we should probably leave now.” 

“I’ll go ahead to the practice room then.” Taeyong stood up and stretched his arms.

“Alright! See you later.” Ten yawned and waved, still not moving. 

“Come on, we’ll be late otherwise.” Taeyong heard Johnny say as he exited the room. He thanked his luck for doing his own interview as soon as they were done with the day’s activities. 

He grabbed his lyrics sheet from his bed and headed to an empty room to get some practice done.

It was going to be a long day.

Ღ

Trust Taeyong to end up in the same team with the two people he liked the least among all 99 trainees. He could hardly believe it when Jung Jaehyun said Taeyong’s name.

Taeyong and his cursed luck. 

He eyed the song choices warily as he listened to his teammates argue over which song to choose. He had no preference, all songs sounded great and had good rap parts. 

He looked back at his teammates and hated himself for not paying attention to anyone aside from his friends, his roommates, and Jung Jaehyun. He didn’t know anyone’s position. 

“Anything but replay please,” Kim Doyoung, one of his teammates, pleaded. “I don’t think we can pull off the cute concept.” 

“I think we can do it though,” Kim Jungwoo’s voice sounded small and he shrunk into himself once Doyoung shot him a glare.

“Let’s each say which song we want as our second choice and then we can vote for the one we should go for.” Jaehyun smiled in that irritating way and everyone calmed down. 

Taeyong wanted to huff. They weren’t getting anywhere. They only had a few more minutes and they would be sending one of them to race other trainees for the song they wanted. If they even managed to choose one that is. They’ve been debating for ages.

“At this rate, we’re going to get whatever is left,” Taeyong muttered darkly and unfortunately for him, Kim Doyoung heard him and rolled his eyes.

Taeyong wasn’t exactly sure why Doyoung didn’t like him but he knew it started after they filmed a promotional video together. Taeyong was nothing but polite. He probably appeared a bit cold and unwelcoming due to him being so nervous. He was scared of touching unfamiliar objects in the box. He’d seen the disgusting things they made the trainees touch in the first season and wasn’t too thrilled. And apparently, Doyoung wasn’t either. 

They both ended up losing the guessing game and Doyoung was visibly upset when they left. They hadn’t interacted since that day.

Taeyong was so close to switching Doyoung to number one in his least favorite people list. That spot currently belonged to none other than Jung Jaehyun. 

“Maybe you should stop grumbling and being so unhelpful and do something.” Doyoung gave him a very flat look that triggered Taeyong’s fight or flight response. 

He had to consciously make an effort to remember that he was being filmed and had a mic that was turned on. It wouldn’t be acceptable to kick Kim Doyoung. It wouldn’t be worth the career suicide. But damn it was tempting. 

“We literally just agreed on MAMA and Sorry Sorry a few seconds ago before you had to bring up not wanting Replay which only _one_ person wanted.” Taeyong met Doyoung’s glare with his own. 

“Well, Jungwoo is the one doing the running, what if he goes for Replay when both options are taken.” 

“I wouldn’t do that,” Jungwoo said in a small voice and was ignored by the two as they continued to glare. 

“Then we suck it up and perform Replay. It won’t be the end of the world.” 

“You’re just saying it to spite me.” Doyoung narrowed his eyes in an infuriating manner. 

“The world does NOT revolve around you,” Taeyong muttered and was oddly satisfied by the huff Doyoung let out. 

“Time’s up,” Jaehyun clapped his hands together and eyed the pair warily. “We’ll go with MAMA as our first choice.”

Three heads nodded enthusiastically and Jaehyun smiled slightly. 

“Jungwoo, don’t feel pressured. I’m sure we can handle anything but it would be preferable to get our first choice. If not go with the flow.” 

Jungwoo swallowed thickly when Doyoung’s gaze darkened. He looked back at Jaehyun’s hopeful eyes and nodded hesitantly. He regretted telling the group that he was in his school’s track and field team. He regretted it deeply. He wished someone would’ve told him what he signed up for beforehand. 

Taeyong watched as the team representatives lined up a long distance away from the signs with the song choices on them. He caught Ten’s eyes and his friend sent him a thumbs up, ignoring the fact that they could end up in rival teams. He waved back and chuckled when Ten smiled back. 

He looked at the rest of his team and wasn’t surprised that Doyoung was stressfully tapping his foot as he watched Jungwoo like a hawk. The rest of his teammates, Jaehyun included, were warily watching Jungwoo.

Taeyong breathed a relieved sigh when Jungwoo grabbed the sign with their first choice on it. He couldn’t fathom the disaster that would happen had he come back with a song that did not satisfy Doyoung. 

He glanced at Ten who was victoriously holding up a sign spelling “Lucifer”. Taeyong was relieved that they wouldn’t be competing against each other this time around.

Jaehyun awkwardly patted Jungwoo on the shoulder when he joined their group. Lucas and Taeil, the remaining members of their team, smiled widely and congratulated Jungwoo on getting their preferred song. Even Doyoung gave him a sincere thanks. 

“Well done.” Taeyong offered when Jungwoo hesitantly looked his way.

Great. He already scared off one of his teammates and they had to coexist and live together for the next few days. It didn’t exactly matter if they got along or not, they were strangers forced to work together for a common goal. As long as everyone was on the same page and worked hard to win this challenge and get the vote benefits, Taeyong didn’t care if they liked him or not. 

They were promised 3000 bonus votes for the winning groups’ members and the votes of the high-ranked members of each group would get his votes multiplied by ten. It wasn’t a small number and everyone was going to work hard to win it. 

Taeyong, like everyone else, was aiming for the high-rank benefits. The first step to achieve his goal would be securing the center position. He eyed his group mates as they sat together in a circle, song lyrics in hand, and two stickers on the floor in the middle. 

“We need to choose a Leader and a Center.” Taeil cleared his throat and gestured at the two stickers. 

“Let’s start with the leader,” Doyoung sat straighter and Taeyong had a very bad feeling about it. “I nominate myself.” 

“If anyone else wants the position please speak up.” Jaehyun offered and got no reply. 

“I take it everyone is okay with this decision then.” Doyoung very pointedly looked at Taeyong and raised his eyebrow. 

Taeyong rolled his eyes and shrugged. Sure, he knew Doyoung for only a few days and he couldn’t stand the other but he wasn’t going to risk the whole group’s peace just because he didn’t like someone. He had priorities and wasn’t five years old, unlike some people.

“Great, we have a leader! Congrats Doyoung-hyung.” Jaehyun smiled and stuck the sticker on Doyoung’s chest dramatically while the other bowed to the camera. 

Taeyong was consciously making an effort to ignore the cameramen sitting way too close with their huge cameras focusing on everything they did, 

“Now for the center,” Doyoung slid into the role of leader easily and Taeyong started thinking that maybe his worries were unwarranted. “Raise your hand if you want to be center.” 

Taeyong instantly raised his hand and almost groaned when Jaehyun also raised his. He half expected Doyoung to do it too but their leader simply looked between them then at the three other members. When no one else raised their hand he nodded.

“Alright, let’s vote. You two, close your eyes and we’ll vote for who we think suits the position more.” 

Taeyong wanted to protest. They were strangers, acquaintances at best. Still strangers in Taeyong’s case. They didn’t know each others’ strengths and talents. How would they be able to vote fairly? 

Unconvinced, Taeyong closed his eyes obediently. He wasn’t going to act like a brat and make his teammates and the viewers hate him even more. 

“Let’s vote for who we think suits the center position more.” Taeyong could hear Doyoung’s annoying voice followed by a few claps and a gasp.

“Congrats, Jung Jaehyun, our new center.” Doyoung clapped enthusiastically. 

Disappointed but not surprised, Taeyong clapped politely. He would’ve accepted the decision easier if they were asked to perform a part of the song to allow their teammates to actually _see_ who suited the position more but he would sound like a sore loser if he complained now. 

Accepting his loss, Taeyong glanced at the lyrics sheet and immediately zeroed on the rap part. He looked at his teammates and tried to remember their auditions and whether anyone had rapped. He hoped that at least one of them was a rapper and he wouldn’t be stuck coaching someone on how to rap. 

He passively listened as his teammates divided the vocal parts. His eye involuntarily twitched when Doyoung suggested singing the part he, Taeil, and Jungwoo wanted. He bit his tongue to stop himself from pointing out the blatant discrimination. He silently added it to the list of things to rant about later that night. 

Taeyong almost sighed in relief once they finally chose their main vocalist. A tiny part of him was happy that Moon Taeil ended up getting the position. Doyoung frowned in dissatisfaction but couldn’t do anything about it. Taeil won it fair and square. 

“Is there any rapper among you?” Taeyong cleared his throat. 

He knew that both Doyoung and Jungwoo were vocalists and Jaehyun sang during his audition. His eyes unconsciously settled on Lucas who fidgeted at the intense stare.

“I was trained to do both.” Lucas hesitantly raised his hand. “Singing and rapping, I mean.” 

Taeyong’s shoulders relaxed slightly. One less problem to worry about. He quickly divided the rap part between him and the younger trainee. It was surprisingly easier than he expected and they agreed pretty much instantly. It gave him hope that this team mission wouldn’t be as hard as he thought it’d be. 

Ღ

Taeyong had never been so wrong in his entire life.

This mission turned out to be harder than he could’ve ever expected.

Putting a bunch of strangers together and asking them to give a perfect performance in a few days was impossible. Maybe not impossible but it was worse than any group project he had to do at school and that was saying a lot. 

It’s been two days and their groups hadn’t advanced at all. They were still learning the first verse, much to Taeyong’s chagrin. He quietly drank his water in a corner and glanced at the source of the problem.

Kim Doyoung, tablet in hand, was looking at the choreography video, imitating the pre-chorus’ dance moves. He stubbornly insisted on learning the dance moves first before teaching the rest of the group. 

Taeyong had no objections to going slow. He knew that aside from him, and maybe Jaehyun, the rest of their group weren’t natural dancers. They needed more time to perfect the moves and that was fine. They had enough time for everyone to learn and get better. Nothing was impossible with lots of practice.

The problem was that Taeyong knew every dance move by heart. He voiced it the first time they watched the dance video together. He even explained that there weren’t a lot of changes that were done and he made sure to write down the formation changes.

He was ready to take care of their dance practice and help everyone through it. Until Doyoung decided that it was undermining his authority as their leader and that it was his responsibility. Taeyong would’ve been more than okay with it if Doyoung wasn’t such a stubborn prick. 

They had less than one day to show the mentors what they’ve done so far. And they were stuck learning the first pre-chorus because Doyoung decided that they wouldn’t move to the next part until the dance was up to his perfectionist standards.

Not to mention how little time they actually dedicated to dancing. Taeyong was urging them to practice for a couple of hours after dinner but Doyoung kept insisting that it was fine, that they had the time when they, in fact, did not. It took lots of hours of practice to achieve perfection and they were running out of time. 

“Don’t you think we should move on already?” Taeyong tried again, already knowing what was coming his way. “We can always polish the details later. We need to at least reach the chorus by tonight.” 

“We need to learn them perfectly the first time or else we won’t be able to fix our bad habits and get the small details right.” Doyoung frowned at the screen, not even bothering to look at Taeyong. 

Taeyong frowned and looked at the rest of the group. Jungwoo and Lucas were whispering in a corner and laughing. Taeil was sitting beside them but had his earphones on, listening to the song while he read the lyrics. It didn’t seem like either of them even heard him. 

Taeyong sighed. He hated being dependent on other people, especially when it came to something as important as his chance to debut in a very popular boy group.

He needed to get out for a moment or else he’d start screaming. 

“I’m going to the bathroom.” He announced to no one in particular.

“Don’t take too long, the break ends in ten minutes.” 

Taeyong rolled his eyes and waved his hand to say he understood. He glanced to the side and met Jaehyun’s worried eyes. He wanted to scoff so badly. 

Taeyong had the distinct feeling that Jaehyun wasn’t happy with the way things were being handled either. He could feel it in the frowns the other would throw in Doyoung’s way every now and then or the enthusiastic nods whenever Taeyong voiced his disagreement. But the coward never said anything out loud. 

It was frustrating. Taeyong was a firm believer in speaking out when dissatisfied. There was no use in staying silent and suffering through something you knew was wrong. It didn’t sit well with him that Jaehyun would rather risk their whole group’s performance just to not upset one person. 

Taeyong stopped when he passed by a familiar door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside and watched silently as Ten’s team practiced. He felt a pang of jealousy when the chorus started playing. They were already so far ahead and looked more or less synchronized. 

Once the music stopped, a blond who had the leader sticker pinned to his chest announced the start of their break. Ten turned around and happily approached Taeyong. 

“You ran away again?” He pursed his lips when Taeyong shrugged. 

“We’re on break.” He left the room and leaned on the corridor wall and Ten quickly followed. 

There were no cameras out there but their mics were still on. Taeyong couldn’t care less about that right now, he needed to vent. He doubted they’d use the audio when there was no footage anyway.

“You should go back in time or else Doyoung will pop a vein.” Ten snickered, probably picturing it. Taeyong was tempted to show up late just to see it. 

“I will, I will. Just wanted to get out of there, it was getting so annoying. We just reached the pre-chorus..”

Ten winced sympathetically. He witnessed the messy dance practice first hand and knew that his friend wasn’t exaggerating. 

“We’ll meet tonight and you can practice some more.” Ten offered, knowing it won’t ease Taeyong’s nerves.

“It’s a team evaluation though. There’s no use in me knowing the dance so well. I won’t be up there alone. We need to look good as a unit which we absolutely do not.” Taeyong sighed, remembering the embarrassing mess they made when they tried to dance with the music earlier. 

He could already hear the mentors scolding them tomorrow. He didn’t even want to show them whatever they learned so far, he’d rather hole up in his bed and pretend he didn’t exist. 

“It can’t be that bad….right?” 

“It is.” Taeyong ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “I hope someone else would say something about it. Doyoung thinks I keep complaining because I don’t like him and won’t take any criticism and since no one else is agreeing with me it does make me look bad.” 

“Damn. I hope this works out in the end. I believe in you.” 

“I hope so too.” Taeyong sighed and eyed the nearby clock. “Enjoy your break, I’ll get going.”

“My break is almost over,” Ten grumbled and waved. “See you later.” 

Taeyong waved back without looking. He wasn’t looking forward to tomorrow.

Ღ

The team performing against Taeyong, team Love Shot, gaped at the sight they just witnessed. Team MAMA had to be one of the most anticipated teams among all trainees. Out of six members, four were in A class and the rest were two of the best vocalists of the whole show. 

It was safe to say that everyone was looking forward to their performance. Their rival team was scared of going up against these very talented and popular trainees. It was understandable that they couldn’t believe how disappointing their performance had been.

Even though some members danced perfectly, overall, the dancing was off and totally messy. Their formations were sloppy and everyone collectively winced when Jungwoo and Doyoung collided while switching positions. The singing was fine but the fumbling and stumbling were what caught the eye the most. 

Their dance mentor, Taemin, seemed to share the sentiment. His gaze hardened as the music went on and it got icy when the group stopped dancing before they reached the chorus. The trainees that were looking from the sidelines were scared and they weren’t even the ones being glared at. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Taemin pinned all six members with a disappointed glare. “Why’d you stop dancing?” 

“That’s how far we reached,” Doyoung mumbled, head bowed down.

Taeyong couldn’t find it in himself to feel satisfied seeing Doyoung‘s miserable face. He wasn’t happy that they ended up getting scolded, of course, he wasn’t. It was humiliating to have to stand there and be berated for slacking off when he’d been working non-stop for the past three days. He’d been practicing late every single night. He was mostly upset, at himself, at Doyoung, at the whole group. 

“Why is Taeyong the only one doing the moves correctly? What was the rest doing?” 

“I felt like it was my responsibility as the leader to teach the dance-” 

“A leader isn’t going to be the best at everything and it’s his responsibility to recognize who’s best at a certain task and getting them to do it.” Taemin sighed and Doyoung shrunk into himself even more. 

“I hope you realized that two weeks is not nearly enough time to give a good performance on stage. Every second counts. You wouldn’t want to give a non-satisfactory performance then live the rest of your life wondering what could’ve happened if you practiced more. I hope you do better next time we meet.” 

“Yes, teacher.” They all bowed respectfully and switched places with their rival team.

After sitting through an agonizing half-hour of their rivals getting praised for their fast progress and their acceptable performance. Taeyong followed his teammates to their practice room. He noted the gloomy silence and wanted to huff. That’s what they got for taking things lightly. He’d told them times and times again that they should be practicing the dance more often, that their dance practice time was too short but it fell on deaf ears. 

Before he could enter the room, a hand gently grabbed his elbow. He looked up at Jaehyun in a silent question.

“Can I have a word with you?” 

Taeyong glanced at the rest of the members. He doubted they’d have a discussion any time soon, they needed to process the mentor’s words first. 

“Sure why not.” 

Jaehyun looked slightly relieved and shuffled on his feet awkwardly. 

“I don’t know how to say this…” He scratched his neck. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s not your fault.” He sighed. It wasn’t exactly _just_ Jaehyun’s fault. Still, Taeyong kind of appreciated the apology. 

“I still should’ve said something sooner…” Jaehyun’s face scrunched up with guilt. “I thought that by doing nothing I wasn’t doing any harm but I can see now that I’m wrong. You got scolded with us even though you were way better than everyone.”

Taeyong studied Jaehyun for a moment. He did look genuine and didn’t seem like he was lying. Taeyong still hated the fact that it took getting scolded for Jaehyun to realize his mistake but at least he knew better now. Seeing Jaehyun, the golden boy loved by everyone, admit to his mistake made Taeyong reconsider his judgment. 

Jaehyun wasn’t perfect. Unlike what Taeyong expected, he wasn’t the arrogant bastard he thought he’d be. He made mistakes and apologized just like everyone else. He got nervous, he felt guilty, he was only human. The realization made Taeyong feel slightly silly for being jealous of the guy.

“Don’t blame yourself too much.” Taeyong was as surprised as Jaehyun was by his words. “We still have time to catch up.”

“Y-You’re right,” Jaehyun smiled hesitantly. “I’ve never trained with a group like this so I was unsure about how to voice my own opinions. I’ll try to do it more often from now on.” 

Taeyong’s eyes softened a bit. He gave Jaehyun a reassuring smile and patted his shoulder.

“Don’t overthink it. Let’s go in there and deal with the aftermath then start practicing even harder.”

Jaehyun looked stunned for a few seconds and Taeyong started worrying. Was Jaehyun that scared of Doyoung? 

“Yeah, let’s go.” Jaehyun shook his head and smiled brightly. 

ღ

Taeyong wanted to bolt. He was stuck having a very painfully awkward conversation where Doyoung grudgingly admitted to being wrong and specifically apologized to Taeyong for not listening to him. The rest of the team also expressed how sorry they were for not working as hard as they should’ve when it came to dancing. 

“Maybe Taeyong-hyung should be our leader..” Doyoung was frowning at the floor, clearly reluctant to renounce his title.

“It won’t be necessary.” Taeyong huffed. “You’re not a bad leader, Doyoung. You just need to learn to take criticism and listen to your team better. You can learn from this experience and be a better leader.” 

Doyoung looked up incredulously. Taeyong would’ve been offended had it not been for Doyoung’s slightly watery eyes. Taeyong reached out and patted the other’s leg encouragingly. 

“Come on. We have to make up for the time we lost. You’ll have to show everyone that you can lead our team to victory.” 

Doyoung nodded and quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve. Taeyong’s whole body relaxed. They were finally done talking and everyone reached an agreement and felt better and motivated. 

He stood up and stretched his arms. Now that he got the green light to teach them the dance, he had a lot of work to do. They spent the next hours going through the whole dance from the beginning to fix their formations and smoothen the transitions. Surprisingly, no one complained about how strict Taeyong was. He usually got a few whines whenever he practiced with Ten but everyone was cooperative and listened to him readily. 

Taeyong wasn’t expecting Taeil and Lucas to stay behind after he dismissed them for the night. He ended up staying with them to help them with the choreography. The next night, Jaehyun joined them after noticing the empty beds. 

Despite getting little sleep, they were all proud of the progress they were making. In just a few days they already finished learning the dance and were working on their synchronization and polishing the details. 

Taeyong would never admit it but he was grateful for Jaehyun staying with them. Between the two of them, they managed to help their teammates more effectively. 

“I’m right here,” Ten waved his hand in front of Taeyong, snapping him back to reality. 

Taeyong blinked twice before flushing. He hadn’t realized he was staring at Jaehyun who was teaching Lucas. 

“I don’t blame you. I would be ogling too.”

“Shut up! I was lost in thought, I wasn’t staring!” Taeyong whisper-shouted. 

The room thankfully wasn’t silent. Taeil and Doyoung were practicing their singing while Jaehyun played the song on his phone as he showed Lucas some of the dance moves. It was safe to assume that his whispering with Ten wouldn’t be overheard. 

“You were! You stopped paying attention to what I was saying minutes ago.” 

“I’m sorry for zoning out” Taeyong frowned.

Ten technically wasn’t wrong. Seeing a sweaty Jaehyun with his hair sticking everywhere was distracting. Taeyong was actively ignoring how attractive Jaehyun was for days. It worked when they were a full group and too invested in their practices during the day. But ever since the younger joined their night practices, Taeyong has been having difficulties. 

Especially since he was now on friendly terms with Jaehyun. The more he learned about him, the more Taeyong found his eyes following Jaehyun. It was embarrassing and he hoped he wasn’t being obvious. 

“It’s fine, I wasn’t saying anything that important anyway.” Ten smiled and leaned closer to lay his head on Taeyong’s shoulder. “Ah, I really miss Johnny-hyung.” 

“He hasn’t joined us in a while.” Taeyong also missed his friend. They’ve barely met each other in the past few days.

“He’s busy. They practice late as a team.” 

“We only have three days left and then we’ll probably get some time off before the next evaluation.”

“You have a point but I still miss him.” Ten whined.

“How come you're always here? Does your team not practice at night?” 

“They’re all teenagers who need their sleep.” Ten shrugged. “My body got used to staying up with you, I just can't sleep early.”

“I can't believe our sleep schedule is so messed up we consider midnight early.”

“Just be grateful we're able to function on so little sleep.” Ten made a face, “Our leader is surviving on energy drinks and coffee” 

Taeyong shuddered at the thought. Coffee wasn't something he liked drinking. Sure, he liked the taste of coffee but it was bitter without tons of sugar. Which is why he avoided drinking it. His sugar levels were worrying as is with the snacks he munched on during the day.

“With that being said, I’m kind of sleepy.” Ten yawned

“Then go get some sleep.” Taeyong nudged him gently. “We’re almost done anyway.”

“I’ll do that then. Good night Ty, please get some sleep too.” Ten stood up and waved at the rest of Taeyong’s teammates who got so used to him randomly showing up during their night practices. 

Taeyong cracked his neck and joined Jaehyun. He wasn’t sleepy yet, he might as well make himself useful. 

ღ

Sitting nervously in the white lifeless room, Taeyong wasn’t sure what to expect. He knew his team did their best. They practiced hard, the mentors were satisfied with their performance during the rehearsal and his friends assured him that they did well. Heck, even the audience cheered so loudly for them after they performed. 

He was so nervous and had the urge to look away when their scores started appearing on the screen. The only thing grounding him was the firm hold on his hand Jaehyun had. It felt natural to rely on each other after all they went through as a team. 

“Oh my god hyung!!” Lucas patted his shoulder enthusiastically once his name appeared. 

Taeyong blinked once then twice but the number was still the same. A number that was a few votes higher than what their center got. Taeyong couldn’t believe that he was the highest-ranking member. 

He was still processing the news when Jaehyun squeezed his hand reassuringly and beamed at him, his dimples on full display. Taeyong, overwhelmed by his emotions, tightened his hold on Jaehyun’s hand, unable to do anything else. 

He looked at the screen once again and almost gasped. Their team had won! They would all be getting the voting benefits. Taeyong felt his eyes well up but he blinked the tears away. They were still being filmed and he didn’t want to look like a crybaby. 

He smiled shakily at Jaehyun who didn’t seem bothered by losing the very important vote benefit to Taeyong. He even looked proud and relieved. Before Taeyong could question Jaehyun’s behavior, he got tackled into a group hug by his teammates. 

The rest of the night was honestly a blur. High on the feeling of winning, Taeyong wasn’t able to focus on much. The adrenaline that helped him make it through the last two weeks suddenly deserted him, leaving him bone-deep tired and sleepy. 

He craved nothing more than crawling into his bed and removing the annoying lenses that irritated his eyes every ticking second but he didn’t let his tiredness and irritation show. The waiting room backstage was filled with cameras, ready to capture their every move. It was hard to ignore their presence.

After sitting through all the performances, the stressful results announcement and the overall temporary ranking according to the live voting, Taeyong wanted to leave as soon as possible even though most trainees opted to stay behind to celebrate the end of the first evaluation. 

Taeyong congratulated Ten and Johnny on their victories and smiled through the hugs and congratulations he got from people he knew. As soon as he was able to escape, he all but bolted towards his room. He heard a snicker and sent an annoyed look behind him.

“I told you to get more sleep yesterday!” Jaehyun had the audacity to give him a teasing smile as if he wasn’t just as exhausted as Taeyong felt. 

“You didn’t sleep well either.” Taeyong crossed his arms in front of him, not slowing down his pace, making Jaehyun slightly jog to walk beside him.

“You have a point.” Jaehyun frowned, recalling how everyone was too nervous to get any proper sleep the night before. 

“Of course I do.” Taeyong playfully nudged Jaehyun’s shoulder and opened their room’s door. 

Unable to help himself, he collapsed dramatically on his bed and closed his eyes. He knew he had to remove his makeup and get changed but he was too tired.

“Come on hyung you need to get changed first, you’ll regret it tomorrow.” Jaehyun pulled at his arm, attempting and failing to make Taeyong sit up.

“I’ll do it later,” Taeyong mumbled sleepily.

Jaehyun sighed fondly at the sight of their oldest member acting like a child. He rummaged through the drawers beside Taeyong’s bed and produced the makeup wipes he saw Taeyong use frequently.

“At least use these first then sleep.” Jaehyun squatted and rested his hands on Taeyong’s bed. 

He was almost startled when Taeyong opened one eye and gave him an annoyed look, which honestly looked more cute than intimidating. 

“Use what?” 

Jaehyun wordlessly handed Taeyong the wipes and felt his smile widen at Taeyong’s almost silent grumbling as he sat up. 

“Thank you, Jaehyun,” Taeyong whispered as he handed the younger one the used wipes.

“No problem.” Jaehyun offered Taeyong a dazzling smile, his face still too close to Taeyong’s.

“Not just for this,” Taeyong hoped that his cheeks weren’t flushed from the proximity. “For everything you’ve done in the past few days.” 

“We should be the ones thanking you, Hyung.” Jaehyun’s smile softened, his eyes shining with an emotion that was gone way too quickly for Taeyong to identify. “Believe me when I say that Today’s win would have never been possible without you. So thank _you_.”

Taeyong, too sleepy and tired to care about his image teared up. Seeing the panic in Jaehyun’s eyes, Taeyong reached up to wipe his tears only for Jaehyun to beat him to it. His breath hitched when Jaehyun cupped his face and gently wiped the tears away. 

“I’m sorry,” Taeyong was relieved when he didn’t hiccup and was able to speak in a steady voice. “Today has been very overwhelming.” 

“You don’t have to apologize.” Jaehyun frowned. “I know you’ve been acting strong for our sake. You shouldn’t have to repress your emotions. At least not in the safety of your room, not in front of me.” 

Taeyong sniffled as more tears rolled down. He nodded, too scared to speak and embarrass himself. Jaehyun seemed satisfied with his answer and rewarded him with a breathtaking smile. His thumb was absent-mindedly caressing Taeyong’s cheek, sending shivers down his spine. 

“Don’t tell anyone about this,” Taeyong, eyes puffy from crying for a few minutes, tried to appear threatening and knew he failed miserably when Jaehyun outright _laughed_ at him.

“This will be our secret.” Jaehyun winked and Taeyong’s heart stuttered. 

He has seen at least fifty trainees winking at the camera today, and no one managed to make it look as good as Jaehyun did, in the dimly lit bedroom. 

“Get some sleep.” Jaehyun patted Taeyong’s head fondly. Taeyong would’ve swatted the hand away had he not been emotionally and physically drained. 

“Good night Jaehyun.” 

“Good night Hyung.” 

ღ

The first elimination was a wakeup call for the remaining trainees. Despite all his friends not getting eliminated and ending up in second place, Taeyong felt uneasy for the rest of the day. 

Seeing people he’d lived with for last month get their dreams crushed was a very humbling experience. It reminded him of why he was on the show and motivated him to work harder to prove that he deserved the votes he got. 

Which was why Taeyong agonized over his decision as he looked at the two choices in front of him. He was aware that he was making the trainees behind him wait but he couldn’t make up his mind. 

Taeyong was the second to go in to choose for the position evaluation, which thankfully meant he was spoiled for choice, and to that, he was extremely thankful. 

He eyed the cards organized into three stacks: vocals, rap, and dance. On one hand, Taeyong really wanted to show off how good he was at writing his own lyrics. On the other hand, he already did that during the initial evaluation. 

He’d already showcased one of his talents and it was time to let the viewers see his dancing. With that thought in mind, Taeyong read the options and bit his lip in consideration. 

“Is it really that hard to choose?” The staff member behind the camera looked amused and Taeyong laughed nervously. 

“Yeah. It kind of is hard to choose. I love both.” He looked at the cards one last time before quickly snatching his choice and hiding it. “But I’ve managed to make a decision.” 

He turned the card slightly, revealing the contents to the camera, and headed to the next room where only one person was standing in front of a card that read: Red velvet, One Of These Nights.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you chose vocals” Taeyong stood up in front of his own choice but faced Jaehyun, the person that ranked first in the elimination and got in before him.

Jaehyun looked at him and widened his eyes in surprise.

“You’re not rapping this time?” 

“It was a really tough decision.” Taeyong glanced at Jaehyun, trying to convey how much he agonized over it. 

“You’re great at both, I’m jealous.”

“Says the one with one of the best voices in this entire show.” Taeyong rolled his eyes.

“You flatter me.” Jaehyun gave him a dimpled smile that managed to look a tad bit bashful. 

They both focused on the entrance once they heard voices in the neighboring room. 

“Hyung,” Jaehyun looked mischievous and Taeyong suddenly became wary, “I have an idea.” 

Taeyong, initially hesitant, now stood proudly in front of the vocals section, the card with the song choice conveniently held in a way that made the writing visible.

Ten peaked in and gasped once he spotted Taeyong. He looked betrayed and incredulous as he approached his friend. 

“You’re pranking me.” Ten frowned when he spotted the card and realized that it was the correct song Taeyong was standing in front of. “No way!” 

“Sorry, I wanted to try something new.” Taeyong rubbed the back of his neck, trying his best to look apologetic and guilty.

“But I was so sure you’d pick dance and we’d end up together…” Ten gaped, still unable to process the news. 

“I need to challenge myself and explore new options.” Taeyong held back the giggles threatening to escape. 

Unconvinced but resigned and accepting, Ten looked at Jaehyun, who was silently watching the pair with unconcealed amusement. Ten narrowed his eyes and looked between the pair before scowling.

“You two switched your cards!” He jabbed a finger at Taeyong who burst laughing. 

“You should’ve seen your face.” Taeyong ducked when Ten tried to shove him. 

“I hate you.” Ten grumbled and snatched the card he was holding when he tried to hand it back to Taeyong. “See! We _are_ in the same group as I predicted.”

Taeyong exchanged an amused smile with Jaehyun before joining his friend in front of their song choice. 

He would be lying if he said he didn’t expect Ten to end up choosing this song and that it played a role in his decision. He just missed having Ten as his teammate. He hoped the rest of their team would be able to get along and work well without any bumps on the road. 

ღ

At two AM, Taeyong lied down in bed, muscles still sore from the intense practice that ended barely an hour ago. He could hear the deep breaths of his sleeping teammates but couldn’t sleep.

This time around, most trainees learned from their mistakes in the first team evaluation. It also helped tremendously that everyone was more or less familiar with each other. It didn’t make choosing a center and a leader any less intense but at least everyone thought twice before making a decision. 

His team ended up having the youngest trainees. One of them was even fourteen and Taeyong wanted to protect the kid as soon as he set his eyes on him. He ended up becoming their leader. 

He had hesitantly raised his hand during the center nomination and was glad that they voted fairly. He clapped enthusiastically when Ten ended up getting the position instead. 

Taeyong wasn’t worried about their performance. His teammates might be young but they were extremely talented dancers. What they lacked in experience they made up for in talent and discipline. Aside from Taeyong and Ten, no one choreographed their own dance before but they still did their best to chime in and give suggestions. 

The choreography was coming along nicely and they even got highly praised during the mentors’ evaluation.

Sleep was eluding Taeyong not out of worry. He wasn’t worried about the performance, at least not yet. He shook his head, trying not to think of any unexpected injuries. 

Taeyong was wide awake because of Jung Jaehyun. 

It was ridiculous, Taeyong was wasting precious hours of sleep thinking about Jaehyun. As dramatic as it sounded, Taeyong _missed_ Jaehyun. He was used to seeing the other every single day for hours for two weeks. Taeyong only noticed how much he missed Jaehyun today.

He’d been too busy with practice and missed dinner for a few nights. He was fetching water bottles when he ran into Jaehyun in the hallway. 

It was embarrassing how fast Taeyong’s heart started beating at the sight. All Jaehyun did was smile and Taeyong felt the breath knocked out of him. 

He wasn’t an idiot. Taeyong knew exactly what his reactions meant. He knew from day one that physically, he was attracted to Jaehyun. It was only a matter of time for that attraction to develop into something more, especially since the two of them spent so much time together.

Taeyong had a crush and the realization was keeping him awake in the middle of the night. It was laughable how he ended up crushing on his competition when he was the one warning Ten from doing just that. 

Letting out an inaudible sigh, Taeyong closed his eyes in resignation. There was no way for him to change his feelings. He had to accept them and deal with them. For now, he shouldn’t let them affect his performance. He still had a goal and he would never forgive himself if he let his feelings distract him. 

ღ

Taeyong swallowed a sigh and reminded himself that he was doing this for the greater good. Taeyong repeated this thought to himself for the third time in the past hour as he swallowed a sigh. He read his mission card once again and wanted to cry.

_You have twenty seconds to introduce yourself cutely._

He took a deep breath, making sure his face didn't show any of the sufferings he felt and steeled himself. His voice came up as high pitched as he could manage to make it sound without physically wanting to disappear and quickly promoted himself.

He couldn't even remember what he said, he just hoped no one he knew watched the silly clips they forced them to film. He internally cried in relief when the timer buzzed loudly and the staff behind the camera gave him a thumbs up.

Taeyong smiled one last time at the camera and bowed to the staff before taking his leave. He exchanged a long-suffering look with the trainee who went in after him. He'd never understand everyone's obsession with making grown men act in a cringy cute way but he knew that it came with the job.

He headed to the practice room, praying that someone saved him some food. His filming time coincided with dinner and as much as he forgot to eat most of the time, his stomach was already protesting.

As he rounded the corner, Taeyong smacked headfirst into a firm chest. He wobbled slightly, about to fall, when a pair of strong arms grabbed his shoulders.

"Are you okay?"

Taeyong looked up and flushed. His face was inches away from Jaehyun’s. He nodded and almost sighed in relief when Jaehyun released him. 

“Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going.” Jaehyun offered him an apologetic smile and Taeyong frowned.

Jaehyun looked tired and not just physically. His shoulders were tense and his eyebrows were furrowed in what Taeyong guessed was worry or annoyance. 

Without giving it much thought, Taeyong grabbed Jaehyun’s hand and started dragging him to an empty vocal practice room. The smaller practice rooms didn’t have any cameras installed, which made it some kind of safe haven for a lot of trainees. Taeyong has a feeling that Jaehyun needed some privacy. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask if you were busy right now..” Taeyong closed the door behind them and sat down, back to the wall, releasing Jaehyun’s hand. 

“It’s fine, I was heading to my room. Practice just ended.”

“Is everything okay?” Taeyong blurted out before he could stop himself.

Jaehyun glanced up, surprised by the question. He let out a deep sigh and settled beside Taeyong.

“Not really. I’m mostly worried about the performance.” 

“Why? Is practice not going well?” 

“I’m not sure, to be honest,” Jaehyun’s lips tugged downwards and Taeyong felt himself mirror the action. “We keep disagreeing when it comes to the arrangement. Some want to keep the song as it is, insisting that we’ll ruin it if we change it too much. But I am sure we’re _supposed_ to be changing it. That’s the whole point of this challenge. Since it’s three versus two, they got to choose and I have a very bad feeling about it.”

“I’m proud of you for expressing yourself better.” unconsciously, Taeyong reached up and patted Jaehyun’s head reassuringly. “The only thing you can do now is to practice harder and hope for the best. I know it’s frustrating but it’s a team effort. There’s nothing you could do on your own to fix it if your teammates aren’t willing to do it.” 

Jaehyun leaned into the touch as Taeyong’s fingers absentmindedly ran through his hair, lightly massaging his scalp. 

“I’m dreading the mentors’ evaluation. I’m one thousand percent sure we’re going to get scolded.”

“Maybe it’ll be the wake-up call your teammates need.” Taeyong chuckled at Jaehyun’s pout. “No use worrying about it too much. Your hard work will pay off in the end!” 

Jaehyun nodded weakly, his body significantly more relaxed than earlier. They sat down in silence, both enjoying each other’s presence. Taeyong felt bad for monopolizing Jaehyun’s precious resting time but the other hadn’t voiced any complaints and seemed to be enjoying himself. 

Taeyong swallowed thickly, suddenly too aware of how close they were sitting. His hand, still messing with the light brown strands, suddenly felt too hot. Before he could start internally freaking out over it, his stomach let out a loud growl. 

He let his hand fall to his side to hide his stomach and his cheeks colored a very deep shade of pink. 

“You skipped dinner again, didn’t you?” Jaehyun’s eyes narrowed at Taeyong who was busy glaring at his stomach for ruining the moment. 

“I was filming that silly mission game video. I didn’t skip by choice, I swear.” 

“Let’s get you something to eat then.” Jaehyun was already up on his feet, hand extended at Taeyong. 

“Thanks.” Taeyong gladly took the offered help with a grateful smile. 

A few days later, just as Taeyong predicted, Jaehyun’s teammates ended up changing their strategy after getting a very disappointing review from their mentors. The new arrangement was the most beautiful thing Taeyong has ever heard. 

He had to blink back the tears as he watched in the waiting room, he couldn’t ruin his make-up before going on stage. Ten, equally emotional from the amazing song, had the audacity to make fun of him. 

Taeyong ignored him and focused on clapping for Jaehyun. 

Ღ

Taeyong didn’t know when exactly he dozed off. He opened his eyes slowly, allowing them to adjust to the brightness of the room. 

He recognized the training room. He’d claimed it for himself for the past few days. The clock read three am, he probably fell asleep while practicing. 

He was about to stand up and go back to his room when he realized he was laying on someone else’s shoulder. Taeyong glanced up, careful as to not wake the other up. 

He was using Jaehyun as his personal pillow. Again. Taeyong’s face heated. 

After ending up in the same team again, Taeyong and Jaehyun started practicing together late at night. They were usually joined by the rest of the teammates but whenever they were alone, It would always end up with Taeyong somehow sleeping on Jaehyun. 

“You have no idea how much I like you,” He whispered, brain to mouth filter still not working properly. 

Taeyong carefully extracted himself from Jaehyun. When Jaehyun didn’t even stir, he poked the other’s cheek to make sure he was still sleeping. 

“Mn I like you too, Hyung,” Jaehyun mumbled sleepily and Taeyong’s heart almost stopped.

Jaehyun slowly blinked, letting his eyes adjust to the brightness and Taeyong wanted to coo. He would never get used to seeing how absolutely adorable Jaehyun was when he woke up.

“You...were awake?” Taeyong asked cautiously, heart beating frantically. 

“Were you hoping that I wasn’t?” Jaehyun turned to face him, eyes tired but sharp.

“I… don’t know what I was hoping for.” Taeyong, significantly more awake, flushed, “Did you mean what you said?” 

“I did. Did you?” 

“I-” Taeyong was so flustered. Three in the morning was NOT the time for him to be having such an important conversation that required him to think when he was flustered. “Yes I did, I do. I really like you Jaehyun.” 

“Okay wow.” Jaehyun tore his eyes away and ducked, his hair hiding his eyes.

“What?” Taeyong frowned and leaned in. He wasn’t prepared to see Jaehyun blushing all the way to his ears. 

Taeyong giggled at the sight. Here he was thinking it wasn’t fair that Jaehyun was way too composed and unaffected when the younger was just as flustered as him.

“Don’t laugh at me…” Jaehyun pouted, still looking away. 

“I won’t, I promise,” Taeyong tried to bite back his giggles. “It’s just adorable, I’ve never seen you so discomposed.” 

“Can you blame me?” Jaehyun huffed and looked up, finally meeting Taeyong’s eyes again. “I wasn’t expecting you to like me back.”

“Well if it makes you feel better, I didn’t expect you to like me either.” 

“How could you say that?? All I’ve done since I’ve met you is stare at you”

“I never noticed?” Taeyong sounded genuinely confused.

“Will you go out with me?” Jaehyun gave him a hopeful look.

“I want to say yes.” Taeyong bit his lip nervously.

“Then what’s stopping you?” 

“This is a competition, Jaehyun. We’re supposed to be competing against each other for a chance to debut. Will we be able to make it work in these conditions?”

“Who cares about the competition? There are nine spots in the debut group, we’ll both make it. Together. You should give it a chance. We’ll take it in strides and overcome things as they happen.” 

“I hate how much sense you make.” Taeyong refused to acknowledge the tears that threatened to escape and burrowed his face in Jaehyun’s neck. 

“Does this make us boyfriends?” Jaehyun rested his head on the top of Taeyong’s. 

“Yes,” Taeyong felt the arms encircling him tighten. “This won’t be easy, we’ll have to be extremely secretive. You still can back out.” 

“It’ll be worth it. You’ll be worth it.” Jaehyun murmured against Taeyong’s ears.

ღ

“There you are!” 

Taeyong stopped in his nervous pacing of the bathroom floor when the door opened abruptly. Everyone was still getting their hair and makeup done and Taeyong was sure no one would even notice his absence. He should’ve expected Jaehyung to notice, he always did.

“Is it time already?” Taeyong was sure he still had a few minutes before he had to get ready to be on stage.

“No, we still have about twenty minutes. I got worried when I couldn’t find you.” Jaehyun took a few steps forward and stopped a few inches away from Taeyong.

“I needed to be alone for a moment..” Taeyong rested his forehead on his boyfriend’s shoulders. Jaehyun’s hands settled on his waist as if they belonged there.

“Everything okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m just overthinking.” Taeyong let out a shuddering breath. “I’m so worried Jaehyun. What if one of us debuts without the other? What if neither of us does?” 

“Look at me,” Jaehyun cupped Taeyong’s face, forcing him to look up. “We’ve been consistently number one and two since the start of the show, if by some miracle we don’t make it, then it won’t be the end of the world. We’ll still have each other...right?” 

Taeyong nodded, eyes still wide with worry.

“We’ve done our best, we’ve both practiced really hard for today. All we have to do is go out there and give the best performance of our lives. It’ll be fine, hyung.” 

“Yeah you’re right,” Taeyong’s shoulders sagged. “Thank you Jaehyun. I’m sorry for freaking out and disappearing.” 

“It’s fine, I’m glad you’re feeling better.” Jaehyun smiled reassuringly and Taeyong felt his inside melt. 

He couldn’t remember when he started relying so much on Jaehyun’s emotional support. Jaehyun had managed to make himself a very important and irreplaceable part of Taeyong’s life in just a couple of months. 

Jaehyun leaned in, his eyes asking a silent question and Taeyong answered by bridging the rest of the distance and sealing their lips together. The kiss was sweet and chaste, making Taeyong feel safe and protected. 

“I can’t believe our first kiss was in a bathroom,” Taeyong grumbled once the pair separated, foreheads resting against each other. 

“I wanted to save it for tonight but...I couldn’t wait” Jaehyun smiled sheepishly.

“Thank you, Jaehyun,” Taeyong’s cheeks burned when he leaned in to leave a short and chaste kiss on his boyfriend’s plump lips. 

“Anything for you, hyung.” Jaehyun’s smile widened. 

“Come on, let’s go before they start wondering where we went.” Taeyong did a quick check in the mirror, making sure his lips didn’t look swollen, and grabbed Jaehyun’s hand.

Ღ

The crowd’s murmurs of anticipation were the only thing keeping Taeyong sane as he waited for the winners to be announced. He hated with all of his being the dramatic way the names were announced. He was going to end up with a heart condition from the stress they were subjecting him to. 

Taeyong’s eyes settled on BoA, who was taking her sweet time reading the names. His heart was beating fast, the beat increasing with every new name.

“Number nine, Lee Donghyuck!”

“Number eight, Nakamoto Yuta!”

“Number seven, Kim Doyoung!”

“Number six, Na Jaemin!”

“Number five, Johnny!”

“Number four, Lee Mark!”

“Number three, Ten!”

“Number two, Jung Jaehyun!”

Taeyong released a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding and engulfed Jaehyun in a very tight hug. He felt Jaehyun hug him back before he had to let go. 

He watched Jaehyun give his thanks tearfully. He stood there, the space beside him feeling too empty, as he waited for the next announcement. 

“Number one, Lee Taeyong!” 

Taeyong felt dizzy. He let the other trainees around him congratulate him and hug him. He wasn’t able to focus, to recognize anyone. 

It felt like an out-of-body experience. He didn’t remember anything after shakily giving his speech. To this day, his memory of that night was hazy, all knew was the immense feeling of relief, knowing he managed to debut with his best friends and his boyfriend. 

ღ

Jaehyun frowned at the lump in the bed facing him. He put down his coffee mug and yanked the covers, earning him a whine.

“We don’t have any schedules today,” Taeyong covered his face with his hands to block the light that streamed in from the windows after Jaehyun opened the curtains.

“You promised me to go out shopping today.” Jaehyun climbed into the bed, straddling his grumpy sleepy boyfriend.

“Do we have to go this early?” Taeyong widened his eyes in that way that usually made Jaehyun give him whatever he wanted.

“Early? It’s already noon,” Jaehyun leaned in and snickered when Taeyong’s nose scrunched up in dismay at his failed attempt. 

“Alright, you win,” Taeyong scowled as his hands wrapped around Jaehyun’s neck and tugged him down. “We’ll still go watch the movie later, right?” 

“Yeah,” Jaehyun murmured against his lips, “The kids might join us through, they asked and you know how I can’t say no to them.” 

“I feel like I should be angry that you let them crash our date,” Taeyong narrowed his eyes. 

“You love them too much, you wouldn’t have said no either.” Jaehyun smiled fondly. 

They haven’t had a single day off since Produce 99 ended. Between debut preparations, variety show appearances, and the reality show they filmed, they’ve barely had time to rest. Today was a very rare and precious day off and Taeyong was going to babysit their youngest members instead of going on a date. He couldn’t find it in himself to be even mildly annoyed.

“Mn, that’s true.” Taeyong closed his eyes when Jaehyun leaned in and claimed his lips. 

It still felt surreal, being able to touch each other and exchange kisses in the safety of their shared room without worrying about the cameras. 

Taeyong made a sound at the back of his throat when Jaehyun’s tongue swiped across his bottom lip and he granted him access. Taeyong tightened his hands, bringing their bodies closer to each other. 

“Shouldn’t we be leaving soon?” Taeyong said between open-mouthed kisses along Jaehyun’s jaw.

“We can stay for a few extra minutes,” Jaehyun’s eyes darkened when Taeyong licked his lips in anticipation.

“Hyung! I can’t find my-” Mark opened the door, made eye contact with the startled couple then proceeded to close it. “I didn’t see anything!” 

“You didn’t lock the door,” Taeyong gave Jaehyun a flat look.

“Well, I wasn’t planning to do anything further than a good morning kiss..” Jaehyun pecked Taeyong’s lips as an apology.

“Give me ten minutes and I’ll be ready.” 

“Take your time, I’ll make you breakfast.” 

Jaehyun climbed out of the bed and squared his shoulder as he headed to the kitchen. He wasn’t looking forward to Doyoung scolding him once again for not locking the door and traumatizing the babies. 

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
